Help First Lady Kristin Cooper install a pollinator & bird-friendly garden at North Carolina’s Executive Mansion!

Earlier this year, North Carolina’s First Lady Kristin Cooper saw an opportunity to partner with Audubon to refresh the Victorian garden on the south lawn of the Executive Mansion. Originally established by former First Lady Dottie Martin, the Victorian garden has become overgrown over the years and lost much of its original color and vibrancy.

This fall, the Executive Mansion will be refreshing these garden beds with beautiful pollinator and bird-friendly plants native to North Carolina, drawing from Audubon North Carolina’s Bird Friendly Native Plant list. Native plants are eco-friendly, support a wider range of pollinators, birds and other wildlife, and require less watering, maintenance and ongoing expense.

Garden plan by Ben Skelton.

Pollinator-friendly landscaping expert and Audubon supporter, Ben Skelton, has volunteered his time to develop a native plant design that will help bring this garden to life.

But we need your help!

In a time of tight state budgets, it is important that all plants and materials for this project are paid for with community donations. By raising $5,000, the project will be able to purchase over 1,000 native plants and plant them this fall so they can be ready for pollinators and birds in the spring.

Audubon North Carolina is coordinating the fundraising effort with the Office of the First Lady. Any funds raised over the fundraising goal will be held in a reserve account for future native plantings at the Executive Mansion or the Governor’s Western Residence in Asheville.

Clethra alnifolia. Photo: Will Stuart

Can we count on your support?

Donate online here or send a check to the Audubon NC office by Friday, October 6 to ensure Executive Mansion staff can purchase and install native plants this fall in time for the arrival of birds and other pollinators next spring.

Please make out checks to Audubon North Carolina and include “Executive Mansion native plants” on the notes line: